Still life with carafe and ceramic figure 1885

Paul Gauguin made this still life with carafe and ceramic figure using oil paints, a medium which allowed him to experiment with color in ways which reflected his changing mental states. The rough handling of the paint is striking. The scene is built up of rapid, gestural strokes, visible to the naked eye, resulting in a textured surface which seems to vibrate with energy. Gauguin’s methods are far removed from the traditions of realism, and reveal a fascination with non-Western cultures, which regarded art less as an exercise in imitation, and more as an act of personal expression. The objects depicted, in contrast with Gauguin's technique, suggest the influence of industrial production. The ceramic figure may have been slip-cast, a process by which liquid clay is poured into molds. The carafe is a functional, mass-produced object, most likely made using semi-automated glassblowing techniques. By bringing these elements together, Gauguin asks us to consider how materials, making, and context can come together in the creation of meaning.